


A Dream Come True

by May_Seward



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Everyone's Okay, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Oneshot, Peter is alive because I said so, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Set after everything is okay again, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, i honestly don't know how to tag this, ish, tony's dream about baby stark comes true
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-28 21:40:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15058373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/May_Seward/pseuds/May_Seward
Summary: Before the snap, there was one thing Tony wanted more than anything. Now, he's going to get it, but he's not sure that he deserves it.'You were right.'With three little words, she propels them both into a whole new adventure- one Tony's suddenly not sure he's ready for.





	A Dream Come True

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who's finally delving into the realm of MCU fanfic. Thanks, Infinity War for making me want to create content for this fandom again.
> 
> Trust me, I've never felt the need to write for this ship before but I had the thought and I couldn't get it out of my head until I wrote it down so here we are.
> 
> Please excuse typos, and inaccuracies, this is unbeta'd

‘You were right.’

Tony spun around in his chair so fast he would have made himself dizzy if he didn’t spend half of his life catapulting himself through the air. It wasn’t Pepper’s words that had planted an anxious spark in his chest right where his reactor used to be, though the sentiment was rare enough to be noteworthy. It was the way her voice, usually smoothly implacable, wavered on the last syllable, the way it echoed through the space despite being quieter than the usual commanding tone he loved so much.

‘I’m what?’ It wasn’t that Tony wanted her to repeat the statement to feed his ego, more like he wasn’t sure he had actually heard her correctly. Pepper swallowed, eyes bright like she almost wanted to cry. She hadn’t even reacted this way when he proposed. It was enough to fuel that spark of anxiety a little more. ‘What’s happened?’

‘You were right,’ Pepper repeated. ‘I don’t know how, but...’

Tony tried for confidence. ‘I mean, I’m right about a lot of things, so you may have to be more specific, honey.’ It didn’t work.

Pepper stepped further into the workshop. It was a recent addition to the New York house, a converted basement that Tony had been retrofitting to get through nightmares and pre-wedding nerves. The fluorescent lighting was a temporary solution and it bleached her face, only adding to her uncertain look. Totally counter to what Tony had expected, her lips twitched upwards in a smile and once they moved, she couldn’t seem to stop it’s slow and steady stretch across her face. ‘That dream you told me about before everything went to hell with Thanos and...’

Tony seemed to loose track of what she was saying at that point, his mind recalling the conversation she was referring to in perfect clarity. His breath stilled in his chest. It had been little over two months ago. He had wanted it so much back then, he had ached for it. Now...

His hands rested on the edge of the workbench, fingers curling over the edge. He gripped it hard enough that he could feel the metal bite into the flesh of his hand, just short of breaking the skin. The pain reminded him to breathe. ‘You’re...’

Pepper nodded, a single tear breaking through the dam. Tony’s whole body tensed as if to leap up and wrap her in his arms, wipe the tear away, do _something_ , but he was frozen in place. He couldn’t seem to make anything move- even his mind felt like it had come to a stand-still. He could barely even see.

‘Tony?’ It was enough to get him to release the table.

‘I’m okay.’ He lied. ‘I just...’

‘What’s wrong?’ Some of the shock had left Pepper’s voice, sounding far more normal once she realised Tony was in trouble. ‘Tony?’ Her face was suddenly right in front of him, crouched so they were level and she could search his eyes for a problem to solve. ‘Hey, talk to me.’

Tony let his eyes close and reminded himself to breathe. Pepper wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into her chest in an attempt to ground him. His bones trembled under his skin until he was shaking in her hold. ‘I’m sorry,’ he murmured into her blouse. ‘I’m sorry...’

Pepper squeezed him tighter and he tensed his shoulders in an attempt to stop shaking. ‘You have nothing to be sorry for,’ she said quietly. ‘This is a good thing. This is what we wanted.’

‘We?’ Tony mumbled. Even in his muddled state, he remembered her careful lack of enthusiasm last time.

‘Of course,’ Pepper said gently. ‘I told you, I wanted to have a family too, I just wanted to wait for the right time.’

Tony choked and Pepper finally pulled away enough to look at him. ‘I thought you’d be happier,’ she said, her voice hardening again. ‘What’s going on?’

Tony could no longer control his breathing but he did his best to speak through the growing panic spreading through him. ‘I- I couldn’t-’ He choked on his words and had to swallow before he could start again. ‘The kid-’ he tried and Pepper’s hands curled into his hair. ‘Titan-’

‘Shhhhhhhh,’ Pepper whispered, her own voice tightening. ‘It’s okay, Peter’s okay now, you know that. He’s living with May and you see him every week. He’s okay.’

‘But I couldn’t save him.’

‘You nearly died to save him, Tony.’

‘But I still failed.’

The war with Thanos was over. They had won and everyone who had been turned to dust had been restored, but sometimes Tony still had to be reminded.

‘But he’s still okay,’ Pepper repeated. It was an old and worn discussion by now, a subtle mention of the kid’s name every time Tony’s gaze went too distant, after school visits every Wednesday to check in with how Peter was doing at school and with his other... more dangerous extracurricular activities. ‘It all worked out. You can’t blame yourself.’ It was like telling a fish to walk on land, but Pepper had made it clear that she wasn’t going to give up on it any time soon. Tony was absurdly grateful. He needed to hear it, and Pepper was the only one he listened to. She didn’t lie to him, or hold back her opinion. She spoke her mind when she disagreed and she never sugar coated the truth for him. He trusted her more than anyone else in the universe.

‘If I couldn’t... If I couldn’t protect him... How can I protect our- protect our family?’

And that was the crux of everything. Peter was fifteen when he had dissolved into dust in Tony’s arms, blown away like ashes in the wind. Peter was a _child_ and Tony hadn’t been able to keep him out of harm’s way. He had encouraged it, even. He had mentored him, drawn him into the conflict between himself and Cap over the Sokovia accords like it was _nothing_ and been the one who had gotten the kid into the mess that ended with Thanos snapping his fingers. Yeah, they had fixed it in the end, those who were left, but that didn’t undo the mistakes that Tony had made. Not by a long shot. If Tony had so thoroughly botched the care of one teenager that wasn’t even _his_ , how could he expect to be a good father? How could he claim to be ready for this, to ask Pepper to take this step with him? He couldn’t.

And yet, here she was, holding him tightly, the only thing stopping him from falling apart under the weight of his guilt. Everything he had ever done to fix the things he broke only made things worse. Ultron and Sokovia. Cap and the Accords. SHEILD. The Mandarin. He couldn’t stop creating the suits, but he had long since recognised the world was better off with him leaving the earth-saving to the real heroes.

‘You don’t have to,’ Pepper whispered, bringing Tony back to the present. ‘We’re in this together. Its _our_ family, Tony. We’ll protect it together. I’ll have your back.’

Tony managed a shaky laugh as her words sank in. He knew better than anyone that Pepper wasn’t to be underestimated. She had taken on as many battles as Tony, albeit usually of a different kind (but not always), and come out victorious. It didn’t assuage his instinctual, visceral need to protect, to shield, and it didn’t make Tony feel any less unprepared, but it did soften the edges of his panic, shrinking it enough to let him breathe properly.

‘You’re too good for me,’ Tony muttered, but his voice had lost some of the strain it had been carrying before.

‘If that were true I wouldn’t still be here,’ Pepper replied and her grip loosened a little. He looked up at her and she smiled down at him.

‘So... does this mean we need to rush the wedding?’ he asked, trying for a smile, a hint of humour in his voice. ‘I don’t want your dad to have to threaten to kill me. Again.’

Pepper’s smile widened. ‘I’ll handle him. We’ll figure it out.’

Tony’s grin transformed into something a little less false. He stood and drew her into him, letting a watery laugh escape as he thought about the implications. He was going to be a father. He and Pepper were going to have a family. This beautiful, brilliant, terrifying woman was going to be by his side forever. They hadn’t made their vows publicly yet, but if Tony knew anything, he knew this. For better or for worse, they would stick together. ‘Til death or alien invasion or universe ending catastrophe. Maybe, hopefully, even after then.

There is nothing Tony wouldn’t do for the people that he loves. That number had just increased by one, and as he buried his face in Pepper’s hair, he allowed himself a moment to imagine that things might just work out after all.


End file.
